CORONAVIRUS | Fourteen US citizens tested positive for the new coronavirus during the evacuation of over 300 US nationals and their family members from a quarantined ship in Japan, the US State Department said on Monday.

The passengers were preparing to return to the United States on a chartered aircraft when US officials received notice that 14 people had tested positive for Covid-19, it said in a statement.

The 14 were moved to a containment area on the evacuation aircraft, the statement said.

The luxury cruise voyage with more than 3,000 passengers aboard was struck by the virus earlier this month, leaving them and crew in confinement.

- Reuters